BULGARIA SHIP SINKING
The sinking of a tour ship on Volga is on the front pages of most Russian newspapers again. Tuesday was declared a nationwide day of mourning in Russia. As the victim’s bodies are being recovered from the sunken Bulgaria tour ship, more details of the deadly accident are becoming known
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
POLITICS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began a visit to Washington early on Tuesday. His talks with U.S. President Barack Obama and other top state officials are to focus on Obama’s forthcoming visit to Moscow. Russia and the U.S. are to speed up consultations on the European missile shield agreement, which the two leaders failed to sign during the G8 summit in Deauville
(Kommersant, Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with major Russian businessmen to discuss privatization and ways to improve investment climate in the country
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with members of the Russian Academy of Sciences and heard their opinions on how to improve Russia’s development strategy through 2020
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
The approval rating of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his party fell dramatically, though not to the benefit of his main political rival, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Experts warn that the growth of protest sentiments in the absence of a strong opposition force may lead to an uprising against the system in general
(Kommersant)
An armed conflict may break out between Israel and Lebanon over gas fields in the Mediterranean, which Israel has recently included into its exclusive economic zone
(Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti)
ECONOMY
The government prepares to significantly increase its privatization program by selling assets worth over 1 trillion rubles annually in 2012-2016
(Vedomosti)
REAL ESTATE
The Moscow authorities decided to reconsider the previous government’s decision to demolish 209 buildings in Moscow’s historic center
(Kommersant)
TELECOMS & IT
Russian long-distance operator Rostelecom plans to provide all houses in the Central Federal District with broadband Internet access and WiFi. The government has already included the project into the list of its priorities
(Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov have agreed to more than double Moscow territory by including 144,000 hectares into the official boundaries of the Russian capital. The project was submitted to the Russian president for approval
(Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia, The Moscow Times)
Six people died when an Antonov An-24 plane with 37 people on board, including one child, ditched in the Ob River on the border between the Tomsk and Khanty-Mansiisk regions early on Monday after a fire broke out in the aircraft's port engine
(Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti, The Moscow Times)
The Moscow District Military Court sentenced the leader of a Russian nationalist group and five other members to life in prison for dozens of ethnically motivated murders, others were sentenced to 10-13 years behind bars
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
Two aides to lawmakers tried to sell a State Duma mandate for 7.5 million euro. They offered to put the buyer into the party’s list at the forthcoming parliamentary elections
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
Children of migrants who want to study in Moscow schools, will be tested for their knowledge of Russian
(Izvestia)
For more details on all the news in Russia today, visit our website at www.en.rian.ru
